Chapter 6
Have you ever faked it?
Cade sat across from me and handed me a beer. “Dude, what is up with you?” The bar was filled with very good prospects. For the most part, Friday night was guys’ night. We would pick a place and scan it for hot women. Except there was only one woman I was thinking of and it was throwing me off my game. “Is it that chick from the restaurant?”
Cade’s voice stopped my thoughts. “No, of course not.” Okay, I lied. Cade knew her, too, and there was no way in hell I was telling him the sexy woman in the restaurant was Adam’s sister. First, he’d flip out. Second, he’d threaten to call Adam and bust my balls. Neither Cade nor Adam knew that she had asked me out when we were younger. I felt like an asshole back then, and even a bigger one now.
I took a swig of my beer and glanced around the crowded bar. There was a variety here tonight. Some looked as though they had just become legal, while others looked like my Great-Aunt Jenny. Either way, none were appealing.
Cade laughed. “Whatever you say.” He looked around, just as I had. “What about her?” He pointed the top of his bottle toward a beautiful brunette in a pair of jeans that very well could have been made with her in mind. Her tits all but spilled out of her low-cut top. “She looks ripe for the picking, and she’s staring at you.”
I shrugged. “She’s okay, I guess. I’m just not in the mood. Why don’t you go talk to her?” When we looked her way, she was walking toward us. Shit.
Cherry red lips rounded as her pink tongue poked out to wet them. “You’re Noah Winston, aren’t you?”
I could practically see the dollar signs dancing over her blue irises.
“He is,” Cade answered, since I remained silent. “Would you like to join us?”
Yeah, I was going to kick his ass later. Rather than move over, I motioned toward the empty seat next to Cade.
“I’m Melissa, but you can call me Missy. All my friends do.” She leaned forward, and I was certain her nipples were going to land on the table.
I got up to go to the bar. “Melissa, can I get you anything?”
Cade coughed to disguise his laughter, but she didn’t find it amusing. “It’s Missy, and I’ll have a lemon drop, please.”
“Fine, excuse me a moment.” Thankfully, the bar was on the opposite side from where the table was located. I needed to get away from her and my asshole of a friend.
A pretty brunette caught my eye, not because I was interested, but because she was Haley. Her face flushed when she saw me.
“No Disney attire tonight?”
“Very funny.” Her eyes took in the area around me. “Here on a date?”
“Nope, sorry to disappoint you. I’m here with a buddy of mine. Can I get you something?”
“No, thank you. I’m all set.”
The bartender asked what I wanted, and when I placed my order, Haley’s eyes narrowed. “Your friend drinks lemon drops?”
“It’s for my friend’s date.” She nodded and raised a brow, skepticism written all over her face. “Is Margo here?”
“Nope. She’s home . . . alone. I’m out with friends from work.” A mischievous grin spread across her lips. “You should go see her; I’m sure she’d love the company.”
My heartbeat sped up a bit at the thought of seeing Margo. Being alone with her in her apartment held a certain appeal, but there was a glint of something in Haley’s eyes that piqued my interest.
When the bartender set the drinks down, I paid my tab, told a passing waiter where they were to go, and tipped him fifty to deliver them. Turning back to Haley, who grinned like a fool, I said, “Thanks.”
“Go get her, tiger. Oh, and let her know I’m staying at a friend’s tonight.” Hmm . . . Haley was an ally of mine.
After a curt nod, I left the bar. I was sure Cade would be texting or calling me soon, to yell at me for ditching him, but I didn’t care.
Italian music filtered through the crack under Margo’s apartment door, probably the reason she didn’t hear me knocking. I gave the wooden door another loud rap. The music stopped and I could hear her rustling around. Did she have someone with her? Was that why Haley had that gleam in her eye? Was this a trick and Margo really wasn’t alone? Did she want me to know that she wasn’t just sitting around pining for me? Maybe Haley wasn’t an ally after all.
Just as I was about to knock one final time, the door swung open. Eyes as wide as saucers stared at me. These ladies took their beauty regimen seriously. Margo’s face was covered in white cream; her hair was pulled on top of her head in a frizzy mess. When I scanned her body, she was in nothing but a long, white T-shirt with an MK on the front that reached her mid-thighs. I had no idea what MK stood for, but it didn’t matter. What did was the fact that she was practically naked.
Margo balanced on the back of her heels. Wads of cotton were shoved between her toes. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?” Margo waddled to the side allowing me to pass. She shut the door and turned to look at me. “I ran into Haley tonight, and she said you were home alone. Oh, Haley wanted me to let you know she wasn’t coming home tonight.”
She grumbled, “I’m going to kill her. Can you excuse me a minute, please?” Before I could answer, she stomped off. I couldn’t help but laugh. Her T-shirt covered ass swayed back and forth as I watched her disappear down the short hallway.
When she reappeared after about ten minutes, she had changed into tight black leggings and a pink hoodie. Her face was wiped clean, and her hair looked a bit tamer. “You didn’t need to change on my account.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “I’m sorry, but why are you here?”
“You’re a terrible hostess, you know that?” I walked into the kitchen, pulled the refrigerator open, and asked, “Would you like a bottle of water?”
Her cheeks puffed out as she expelled more air. At this rate, she was going to pass out due to lack of oxygen. “No, I’d like something stronger. Would you like some as well?” Before I could answer, Margo was in the kitchen uncorking a bottle of Merlot.
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Once we had our glasses in hand, we went to sit on the couch. Margo sat before I did and propped her feet with freshly painted toes on the coffee table. I stared at the pink tips fanning back and forth. Since she pulled a pillow to her side, I sat on the opposite end. “Okay, so why are you here other than the fact that my roommate wanted payback?”
“For the record, I think you’re beautiful, with or without whatever that was on your face.”
“Thank you, but I know I looked like a deranged mime. Are you going to keep avoiding my question?” Her fingers fiddled with the stem of her glass.
“Do I make you nervous?”
“No, of course not.” Liar.
“Good. And to answer your question, I’m here because you are. Is it okay that I wanted to see you, rather than being in a crowded bar?” Just as she was going to answer, my phone vibrated. “Hold that thought.”
I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket to see a text from Cade.
Cade: You’re a fucking dead man.
Well, that was expected. Not bothering to answer, I tossed it on the table.
“Sorry about that. Cade is a little pissed that I ditched him tonight.”
“You left Cade at the bar?” She bit her bottom lip. “To come here?”
“Yes, and don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Plus, he wasn’t alone when I left him.”
We sat in silence for a bit. My insides started to quiver and my mouth went dry, things I had never experienced when I was with a woman. What was it about her that made me feel that way?
“So, why are you really here?”
“You know, you could give a less confident man a complex.”
Margo let out a sweet laugh. “Good thing you’re as confident as they come.”
I nodded. “Indeed.” I reached out and tipped my glass in her direction. She gingerly tapped it with hers. “I’m here because I wanted to talk to you.”
Her eyebrow arched. “Let me get this straight. You ditched Cade in a bar, where I’m sure women were ripe for the picking, to come here and talk to me?”
My lips quirked to the side as I nodded. “Weird, I know.” I took a sip of my wine and watched her do the same. “Cade was grilling me about you, well the woman I went out with.” Her eyes widened in shock. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him who you were. Then when I ran into Haley, she was all too eager to tell me you were home alone and that she’d be out all night.” I shrugged. “Maybe she thinks we ought to be together. She’s a smart woman, I like her.”
“Hmm . . . maybe you should date her?”
“No, you’re the one I want. Look, I’m not saying we’re going to fall in love . . .” Margo started choking on the wine she just sipped. Her coughing didn’t stop. I set my glass down, took hers from her hand, and set it next to mine. Then, I grabbed both her hands and hoisted them up in the air over her head. Toned, bare skin peeked out from beneath the hem of her shirt that rose when I lifted her arms. She turned her head and coughed to the side while trying to pull her hands from my grasp. “No, keep them up, it will help you.”
“Wa . . . wat . . . water.” I dropped her hands and sprung up from the sofa to fetch a glass of water.
Once I handed it to her, she took gentle sips. A few more coughs and she was fine. “Jesus, don’t do that to me.”
My eyes widened. “What? Save your life?”
“Save my life? You almost killed me. And raising my hands above my head doesn’t help.”
“First, yes it does, it opens your airways. Second, I didn’t mean to make you choke.”
Margo sipped her water, forgoing the glass of wine. Her knee bounced rapidly. In a way, I wanted to clear the air and tell her I was sorry I turned her down all those years ago. Another, the rational part of my brain, told me I was insane, and there was no way on God’s green Earth that she was still thinking about that.
Her hand went to her leg, stilling it, but her voice trembled when she asked, “What would you like to do?”
Oh, I don’t know. Kiss you until the sun comes up? Lay you down and feel your skin against mine? Talk to you until we fall asleep? “Ladies’ choice, I crashed your night.”
“Would you like to watch a movie?”
“Is it a chick flick?”
Like music to my ears, she laughed. “Is When Harry Met Sally a chick flick?”
“It could go either way, but it’s a great movie.”
“Popcorn?” She stood, and my eyes tracked her body from her knees to her eyes.
“It wouldn’t be movie night without a salty snack.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
After the snap and pop of the kernels exploding in the microwavable bag ended, she handed me a small bowl and filled one for herself.
She turned on the TV, started her Blu-ray player, and our movie began. Everything about this felt normal. We were both at ease, even though the only voices were coming from the screen.
Margo reached for the remote and clicked the pause button.
“Do you think a man and woman could be friends with no sex?” Her question came right after Billy Crystal’s character told Meg Ryan’s that men couldn’t be friends with an attractive woman because they’d always want to have sex with them.
God, this felt like a trick question. It didn’t matter how I answered, I was fucked. If I said yes, then I’d be lying because I wholeheartedly agreed with what we just heard in the movie. If I said no, then she could very well tell me to leave or just like Sally told Harry, they couldn’t be friends, and I didn’t want that.
Trying to buy time, I asked, “Are you talking in general, or are you referring to us?”
She turned her head to look at me. When our eyes met, she said, “Does it matter?”
Did it? Yes, it did. Having Margo naked and ready for me to claim her made my dick turn to stone. So, I did what most men did when they didn’t want to end up in a cold shower, “Do you think they can?”
Margo laughed. “Nope, you’re not flipping this on me.”
“You want the truth?”
“No, lie to me.” She shook her head. “Yes, always the truth.”
“Fine, my answer is no. It always leads to sex.”
“You’re wrong. I have a lot of guy friends, and I don’t want to sleep with them.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Well, that might be true, but I can guarantee they wanted to get into your pants at one time or another. There’s no chance in hell that when a man finds a woman attractive, he doesn’t think about having her on her back and being between her legs. Aren’t you paying attention to this movie?”
She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and scoffed, “You’re wrong and so is Harry.”
I shrugged. “Whatever you say. But I can assure you, we’re right. Same goes for women. Tell me, when you see a hot guy, don’t you wonder about his sexual abilities?”
Margo blushed, something I loved to see. “Care to watch the rest of this now?”
“I’m not the one who paused the movie.”
She clicked the play button on the remote, and we continued to watch. We’d laugh at parts, and at times, Margo would sigh. Didn’t she know how she affected me? She had to. All she needed to do was read between the lines of my “friends and no sex” comment. Clearly, if I didn’t believe it could happen, meant I thought about it with her. Although, knowing what I did about her, she probably thought I’d never feel that way.
“Oooh . . . ahhh . . . mmm . . .” I started to laugh, but when I cut my eyes to Margo, she was blushing. Sally was just faking an orgasm. If a fake orgasm turned her cheeks pink, what would she look like when I gave her one?
Now it was my turn to ask a question. I clicked the pause button. “Have you ever faked it?”
Margo turned a deeper shade of red. “Of course I have. Every woman has. There is no way that every woman has an orgasm each time they’ve had sex, unless it was artificially induced.”
“You’re having sex with the wrong people.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re delusional, if you think, out of all the women you’ve been with, some haven’t faked it at least once.” She pointed to the TV, just like Sally said.
My brows lowered as I looked at her. First, I rarely had sex with the same woman more than once, and second, I really was that confident in my abilities. “No, not delusional, just very good.”
She picked up a throw pillow and threw it at me. “You’re an ass.”
Rather than toss it back to her, I put it behind me. “Maybe, but that doesn’t negate the fact that a woman doesn’t need to pretend to get off when she’s with me. Trust me, I’d know the difference.”
“Yeah, you and every other man who thinks they rock a woman’s world in bed . . . multiple times.” She quipped, “I swear, you all think your dicks are like a magic wand that can hit all the right spots every single time.” She snort-laughed. “There’s only one magic wand that can do that and it comes with batteries.”
Holy fuck. Did she have an arsenal of toys in her bedroom? Images of her sliding a pink vibrator inside of her made my pants tighten. “Believe what you want, Margo, but I can assure you, I’m not lying.” She remained silent. “You know I’m right.”
“I know you’re hardheaded. Can we watch this now?” With a trembling hand, she picked up the remote and started the movie.
“Sure, but now I’m distracted.” And you’re affected.
“Why?”
“Because I’m thinking of all the ways I could make you lose control, and I won’t need to use a wand with batteries.”
Margo stood. “I’m tired, all of a sudden. I think I’m going to call it a night.”
Yup, I knew I’d fuck this up. But rather than plead my case, I stood, adjusted myself, and walked to the door with Margo following behind me.
When she looked up at me, something inside me snapped. I shoved my fingers into her wavy hair and pulled her to me until our mouths were close enough to feel each other’s warm breath. When she didn’t pull away, I crashed our lips together. I wanted this woman; she tasted like wine and sweetness. Our tongues met and did a little dance together.
Her hands tugged on the back of my sweater. I spun us so her back rested on the paneled door. Before I knew it, I lifted her by her ass, and she wound her legs around my waist.
Our lips never separated as we shifted our position. My hips supported her body as I pushed my denim-clad dick between her legs. Thank God, her pants were thin, because I could feel her heat and smell her arousal.
“I want you, Margo.”
Without waiting, I cupped her breast with my right hand. Her back arched into my touch. Our breaths turned into pants, filled with want and desire.
“But, we shouldn’t. We’re friends.” Her words came out in gasps, which only made me harder.
“Yes, we’re friends, most couples are.” My lips covered hers once more.
“Just one night, Noah.” Without asking why or pleading my case for more, I nodded in agreement. “Second door on the right.” She stretched her arm and pointed toward the hallway.
I didn’t put her down until we reached her bed. Her hair fanned out on the lavender bedspread. “You’re beautiful.”
Sliding my hand under my sweater, I pulled it over my head. Margo licked her lips as she studied my abs. But when I slid my jeans off, along with my boxers, her eyes widened. I stroked myself, enjoying her attention.
I hovered over her. “Get ready, Sally. I’m going to prove you wrong.”
She licked her lips. “Give it your best shot, Harry.”